[国际新闻] 《时代》25页篇幅认错：回归没令香港死亡

日月光

美国权威杂志《财富》（《Fortune》）于1995年一度预言，回归将令香港死亡。但回归十年后，最新出版的《时代》周刊，终在十三年后为此言论来了个迟来的大平反，不仅承认其姊妹杂志《财富》当年报道错误，更直认香港比从前更有活力。
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　　最新出版的《时代》周刊，以25页的篇幅探讨回归十年香港的变化，并以“阳光灿烂中见阴霾（Sunshine with Clouds）”为点题。对于《财富》杂志当年惊世的《香港之死》报道，《时代》坦诚认错，承认姊妹杂志完全是“错误地”及“差劣地”作出推测。《时代》解释香港过去十年经历金融风暴、禽流感、SARS、市民为基本法廿三条上街示威等……当世人以为香港贵为福地的气数已尽，香港却一一熬过来。人在德国 社区; U3 j5 y' S; n4 _
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　　离回归十周年尚余三个星期，《时代》指出香港近期的股市屡创新高，物业格价亦稳步上扬，正值阳光灿烂时，不过晴空之中却有阴霾：香港前景仍受许多不明朗因素影响。" a( [; M4 T) B( j

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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.: v, S4 |, w3 N% F- \5 b8 p8 n; k
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Feb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.人在德国 社区" l& F$ v$ C8 m# g" U3 A, j
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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 7 v% w: u6 X3 A# @

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The Expat Exodus
# ~* ^6 p+ ~+ L6 t8 Prs238848.rs.hosteurope.deOn July 1, 1997, as Hong Kong waved goodbye to its colonial rulers on board the HMS Britannia, pessimists predicted the city's expatriate professionals would follow.
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Emigration 5 \4 j8 {; J& w. }( e
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de6 I/ b& @9 ~% `; U" w; c

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) H2 F1 V; j0 L0 \　　《时代》分析，香港人仍在身份认同及定位上感到迷失。港人对祖国又敬又怕，进而希望争取民主独立，这种心态却令政策陷于胶着状态。保守派与民主派的对立，造成政治麻痹：上至经济下至污染的议题，双方都不愿妥协。) l, ?4 v1 x; A
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　　《时代》称，港人在争取民主方面的想法过于“实际”。有权投票选行政长官的八百名选委，大部分来自商界，他们普遍认为普选特首会引入平民领导人、令香港变成福利社会；另一方面又怕惹怒中央，影响自身利益。& a1 \0 X( _6 m: s
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The People's Liberation Army / n) i# k3 q% v$ ~) @
A 1995 Fortune magazine article famously predicted the "Death of Hong Kong" following the handover, prophesying that PLA soldiers would be a visible, ominous presence on Hong Kong's streets. * |7 J4 o7 z4 Z- R2 X: O) n

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) G$ U- @/ }! A% cVictoria Park. Queen's Pier. Stanley. While many symbols of British rule vanished overnight after the handover — teams of workmen removed the royal seal from post offices, police stations and institutions like the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club — Hong Kong's colonial place names endure. 9 T) W: b, ^. w( Z

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Milton Friedman, the late Nobel Prize-winning economist, predicted that within two years of the handover China would introduce capital controls and replace the territory's currency. Wrong. * t$ z) L. d4 Z* V

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With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.7 ^* a& v& W/ a5 x3 D9 h' u
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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. % {" s! s6 G- K6 ^1 \

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" o& k, A4 ]- N* i# Y/ vContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.